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Amazon can now read bedtime stories to you

Alexa from Amazon Echo can turn any Kindle book you have into an audiobook.

Amazon Echo is an interesting little toy to have around the house — you can play games with it, it can tell you the weather … and now it can read you a bedtime story.

That’s right, now you only have to say “Alexa, read [Kindle book title]” and the Amazon Echo will start narrating whatever you’ve purchased in the Kindle Store, borrowed from Kindle Unlimited, or got from the Family Library, according to an Engadget report.

You can also have Alexa flip through chapters, resume from where you last stopped reading, or pause reading while you go make yourself a sandwich.

It won’t be quite as soothing as listening to a professional voice actor in a typical audiobook, meaning it’s going to sound a bit robotic. If you mind that, it could be a deal breaker, but if not it means all of your books are audiobooks, which can be very convenient.

There’s no charge for this latest feature, which uses Whispersync technology to figure out where you last left off and begin reading. In-book navigation is somewhat limited, unfortunately, according to a ZDNet report.

Fortunately, using the Alexa app, you can skip ahead or backward 30 seconds to get to where you want to be.

So after you’re done telling Alexa to give you a rundown of the latest headlines, turn down the music, and switch off the lights, you can tell it to give you a bedtime story to close out the day.